A comprehensive warehousing and fulfilment solution for a range of fine books and limited editions

Founded in London in 1947, The Folio Society publishes carefully crafted editions of the world’s finest literature. Great books deserve to be presented in a form worthy of their contents.
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We’re delighted to renew with EC Group. Their team are always extremely helpful and professional, and their service levels are excellent. We’re looking forward to working with EC for the next three years!

John Hall, The Folio Society Operations Director

Summary

A bespoke fulfilment service covering over 800 titles sold into five separate global territories with a total of 100,000 orders per annum.
 

The challenge

To provide a cost-effective fulfilment service that allows The Folio Society to reduce its operating costs, to provide the flexibility to scale in line with business requirements whilst maintaining exceptional customer service to a worldwide group of discerning book lovers in keeping with Folio's brand and product.
 

The Operation

EC Group's involvement with The Folio Society began in October 2014 by virtue of our successful response to Folio's comprehensive and detailed fulfilment tender. Initially, the physical set-up of the fulfilment operation involved the establishment of individual picking bins for the range of some 800 titles, all with varying dimensions and not a single product code or barcode in sight. The maintenance of strict sequential order for efficient picking and replenishment was of paramount importance.

The order processing and picking process were also crucial. In terms of systems, this involved establishing an import routine to enable orders to be transferred from The Folio Society's system to EC's system: simple enough in principle but with two types of order file for each of five territories being received twice per day, efficiency and automation were essential.
 

The Solution

For the physical picking and packing process, a bespoke picking routine was established which enables EC to retain picked orders in a prescribed sequence to facilitate efficient production-line packing. Efficient replenishment of the picking bays from the 1000 bulk pallet stock is affected by using a replenishment location report which directs the stock-pickers to the relevant pallet locations.
 

Results, Return on Investment and Future Plans

Three years on, EC's service provision includes a complete picking and packing service, including the production of bespoke advice notes, electronic invoice production and transmission, the provision of all necessary packaging materials and the seamless management of the required carrier services.
To find out how EC Group can help with any of your fulfilment requirements, please contact us at